Tag Archive for palette

I was actually having a chat with myself when the holiday season came rolling in and concluded that I’m finally over eyeshadow palettes. Nothing new popping up in new brand collections seemed interesting except for perhaps the “pocket-able” Urban Decay Naked Basics palette which I thought was genius save for one important fact, they didn’t throw in a matte taupe shade or shades you can alternate for brows (brow shades make any palette an instant win). I was Christmas shopping the other day at Rustans Shangrila Mall with Mom and finally got a much needed alone moment without her (so I could shop for her, which I did) but you know being joyfully alone during the Christmas season in a Rustan’s beauty hall can ultimately lead you to some awesome discoveries for yourself…like over at the Stila counter for example.

The Stila In The Know eyeshadow palette would make a pretty gift for a beauty enthusiast, a beauty blogger, or a makeup professional with a budding bridal makeup career which involves a nearly neverending use of neutral matte eyeshadows (which are also ideal for mature clients). I personally think that Stila is the next best brand to Urban Decay you can actually get here locally that reflects the same sort of young urban “it” vibe and there’s something more silky and creamy about their award-winning powder eyeshadow formulas. Another in the series of palettes they began releasing, like the “NaturalEyes” palette I blogged about, the In the Know eyeshadow palette comes with 10 pigmented matte shades, 6 of which are nearly identical to the Urban Decay Basics offering which includes a matte black, Ebony.

Oh, lest I forget (actually editing this in after having already published the post) the palette, just like the Naturaleyes one also comes with a Stila Smudgestick, a blendable waterproof automatic eyeliner in a lovely, rich deep grey shade called “halfmoon”.

The In the Know palette has won me over because unlike the UD Basics set this set also has a rust shade called Fire, a grey called Smoke, a vanilla shade called Air, and *drumroll* a very wearable taupe called Rain. The light and darker coffee-like browns included are also slightly more ashy than the ones in the UD Basics palette, thus making this work for brows as well. At Rustans, the Stila In The Know palette costs Php1750…just so you know locally there isn’t too big of a price hike in comparison to the price on the Stila website where it costs about US$39 which is just under Php1650. The great thing about this Stila palette is this one unlike the “Naturaleyes” palette last year, this has got a mirror…and that proves I think that they revised packaging based on consumer feedback.

Okay, if there’s anything I really splurged on in Singapore, and Noelle will agree, it was these reformulated Urban Decay single eyeshadows. To be honest…I’m kind of, heck no, SUPER regretting I chose to get them in Singapore, because they were SGD$33 each (ouch!). I remember even computing with my calculator in the store that these should cost way less in the U.S. (WAY LESS IN THE U-ESS) but I was still unfazed in that moment there in Sephora, Takashimaya and still all superficially googly eyed, as a result ’twas the type of “Sephora” receipt you’d hide from your husband (lmao). It’s too bad I didn’t get over the initial elation as I pranced merrily over to the Urban Decay counter. My friend, Noelle aka Kikayrunner, was too polite and kind (and needing to go to the ladies’ room badly lol) to comment before I made my choice (next time, Nanay Noelle, you may wag that finger at me). It is a major boo-boo ’cause I was able to resist so many other great items while I was in Singapore for 10 days (didn’t buy a single item of clothing) because of these. Photos in this post are taken with a friend’s 600D DSLR, was playin’ round with it (posts prior are with my Canon G1X). If you haven’t read the Pt.1 post of when I received the custom palette itself go to this link.

I already got the palette from the U.S. before at the wonderfully low price of US $18, the special introductory price, but wisdom in the tank ran on empty when I was faced with the 4 eye candy “bullets” I was supposed to load that baby up with. The palette came with the default, matte highlight shade “Walk of Shame”, then I got four of them to meet the SG GST refund minimum (over SGD100), stupid. Yea, yea I know no regrets dapat, but I truly wish now I’d been more patient and planned for someone in the U.S. to get them for me, because they’re way cheaper there even without a GST refund, and the difference between there US$18, and this side of the world, US$24 is a painfully great one. Yea, I told you, it’s like “What were you thinking, Julia”. Read more to see where the ranting ends and the review begins LOL!!… To full post & COMMENTS...

Oooooooh, I’ve gots me own! *Rubs palms together* This Urban Decay Naked 2 palette is probably the most reviewed eyeshadow palette in the last 6 months, thought there was not as much of a frenzy bout this as its predecessor, the original Naked palette. So what, it’s high time I got to say something ’bout it, it’s my first Urban Decay palette, haha! Naked and Naked 2 palettes both come with 12 lovely shades of eyeshadow.

The palette itself comes inlaid in cardboard with a minty Urban Decay Lip Junkie gloss in the shade “Naked”. This wasn’t exactly a birthday present but then in the end it was really funny because it kinda became one. Another aunt gave me Php1500.00 birthday money, then the aunt that got me this said she’ll only charge me something the equivalent of US$40 for this (about Php1600), so I slid the Php1500 I was given by the first aunt over to that aunt “There, paid”, she laughed and said “Okay, the money just went around”. And then my grandmother arrived and gave me Php1000 birthday money, we laughed again. So technically I only gave up Php500.00 for this Naked 2 palette, lots of indie makeup stockists bring this in, like House of Flair, but locally this would fetch about Php3200.00 (around $70). In the States, its original $50 price tag converts to Php2200. Read more to get the full post with close-ups and hand swatches.… To full post & COMMENTS...